Vegetation, climate and fire: new insight from palaeoecological records from the Romania

Abstract

Palaeoecological datasets (pollen, plant macrofossils, stomata, charred remains, charcoal, testate amoebae) are a surrogate for measurement of past biotic responses to environmental and disturbance scenarios occurring at different temporal scales (10 to 10³ years). Here, I provide an overview of the results from the latest methodological approach in fossil records from the Romanian Carpathians spanning the last glacial to the present. This paper is structured around three main research subjects: I) Past vegetation dynamics with focus on the vegetation sensitivity to the climate and human impact in the lowlands of Transylvania (Lake Stiucii). Particularly emphasis is on the application of Regional Estimates of Vegetation Abundance at Large Sites (REVEALS model) to correct for biases in taxon-specific pollen productivities and dispersal for an accurate quantification of vegetation cover changes and human induced land cover changes; II) Patterns and drivers of biomass burning in Carpathian region; and III) Hydro-climatic shifts during the last 1000 yeast as revealed in peat bogs from the Northern Carpathians.